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De Beers Reports a Rise in Local Investment in South Africa

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De Beers Reports a Rise in Local Investment in South Africa

De Beers Group increased its investment in local goods and services in South Africa last year and made a major contribution to supporting community development, according to its latest Report to Society.

The company spent R6.1 billion (US$414 million) on buying goods and services, a 27 per cent increase on the previous year, and handed out R40 million (US$2.7 million) in funding to communities around its mines.

Bruce Cleaver, CEO, De Beers Group, said: “We made significant progress in putting the South African supply chain to work in 2016 through our continued focus on procuring goods and services locally.

“Through the range of our community development initiatives, we are fostering the growth of many small businesses, as well as the De Beers supply chain, which delivers significant long-term benefits for both the people and our South African business.

“There is always more we can do and we are focused on further extending these efforts in 2017 to ensure we continue to convert the precious asset below ground into enduring opportunity above ground.”

At the centre of the company’s support for the local economy was its long-running Zimele enterprise development programme, which has supported more than 3,000 jobs and 260 enterprises in South Africa since 2009. Seventy jobs were added through 10 new enterprises supported in 2016.

The emphasis during the year was on providing a link between local enterprises and De Beers’ supply chain to create consistent and reliable business opportunities.

The Group also launched a new beneficiation project to broaden participation in diamond cutting by Historically Disadvantaged South African entrepreneurs. The project involves working with five black-owned diamond companies, the South African Government and the local diamond industry to develop the cutting and polishing sector.

The Report, published on 4 May, highlights that the company spent more than R85 million (US$5.7 million) last year on training for employees and launched a road safety campaign for better pedestrian and vehicle safety around the Venetia mine in the north of Limpopo province.

Publication of the Report came as De Beers Group announced a ground-breaking research project in South Africa to investigate the possibility of carbon-neutral mining through storing large volumes of carbon in kimberlite tailings, the rock material left over after diamonds are liberated from mined ore.

As a result of its improved financial and operating performance, globally the Group returned US$5 billion to stakeholders in 2016 – a 26 per cent increase on 2015 – through taxes, payments and dividends, emphasising the importance of the relationships with stakeholders, including governments, communities, suppliers and joint venture partners in 2016.

About De BeersDe Beers is a member of the Anglo American plc group. Established in 1888, De Beers is the world’s leading diamond company with expertise in the exploration, mining and marketing of diamonds. Together with its joint venture partners, De Beers employs more than 20,000 people across the diamond pipeline and is the world’s largest diamond producer by value, with mining operations in Botswana, Canada, Namibia and South Africa. As part of the company’s operating philosophy, the people of De Beers are committed to ‘Building Forever’ by making a lasting contribution to the communities in which they live and work, and transforming natural resources into shared national wealth. For further information about De Beers, visit www.debeersgroup.com.